THE oldest mosque in the capital, Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad, built in 1909, will be one of the new locations in the 'Singgah KL' one-day guided tour programme organised by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM).
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah said the programme aimed at promoting urban architecture, introduced in 2017, was aimed at boosting the tourism sector, as well as introducing iconic buildings in the capital to the public.
“Apart from the very strategic location of this mosque, we not only want to develop the mosque as an Islamic syiar but also focus on being a tourist attraction open to all races and religions.
"So, we want to beautify the mosque so that it can form an iconic structure from all aspects including beauty, cleanliness of the lighting system and quality of maintenance," he told reporters after officiating the Sultan Abdul Samad Gallery, at the mosque last week.
The opening ceremony was also attended by the Director of the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) Datuk Mohd Ajib Ismail.
The Sultan Abdul Samad Gallery is equipped with the latest information delivery facilities related to the history of the establishment, development and role of the mosque as well as providing dakwah information to visitors, especially non-Muslim tourists from within and outside the country.
Mahadi said the Sultan Abdul Samad Gallery was fully completed in 2019 by DBKL using funding obtained from the federal government, through the Key Economic Result Areas (NKEA) programme.
“The NKEA program is a conservation project that also involves upgrading mosque buildings, adding building lighting, as well as installing closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
"I believe, this gallery will be an added value to the tourism sector of the capital, further strengthened with the completion of the 'River of Life' (RoL) project in the area around the mosque," he said. – Bernama, July 11, 2022
